Psychology Commons^™

Alcohol Use Disorders And An Fmri Stress Task: A Connectivity Analysis, Natasha E. Wright

Theses and Dissertations

Little research has been conducted on neuronal stress processing in individuals

with alcohol dependence (AD). The present study examined neural stress response in AD individuals compared to controls using an fMRI stress task, assessing amygdala

activation and its connectivity to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Further, the study

analyzed the impact of hormone levels and subjective stress on frontal-limbic

connectivity patterns.

Ten abstinent AD individuals and 11 controls were recruited. Subjects

participated in an fMRI stress task. A region of interest (amygdala) analysis was

conducted using area-under-the-curve. This activation was then examined in a whole brain functional connectivity analysis. Follow-up …

Teaching Discriminated Social Approaches To Individuals With Angelman Syndrome, Caitlin Shea Fichtner

Theses and Dissertations

Angelman syndrome is a neuro-genetic disorder characterized by intellectual and developmental disability. Common behavioral characteristics of this disorder include a heightened interest in social interactions and frequent bids to initiate interaction. These bids can be problematic, for instance when a child attempts to hug strangers in public places. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate a discrimination training program to teach appropriate from inappropriate times to initiate a social interaction with three males diagnosed with Angelman Syndrome whose caregivers reported frequent hugging or hand holding as a problem. During a baseline, we alternated periods in which attention was …

Public Perceptions Of Anorexia Nervosa, Katherine Karas

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the severe impact of anorexia nervosa if left untreated, it has been estimated that only roughly 10% of those meeting diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa ever seek out effective treatment. The most cited potential barrier to treatment seeking for general mental health issues is an individual's fear of stigmatization (Corrigan, 2004), but this has never having been examined specifically for anorexia nervosa, In order to further the understanding as to how stigmatization may affect treatment seeking for individuals with anorexia nervosa, it is first necessary to establish the currently held stereotypes for anorexia nervosa. It is the goal of …

Predicting Outcome At Posttreatment For Adolescent Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder In A Residential Treatment Setting, Heather M. Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Exposure and response prevention (ERP) paired with psychopharmacological interventions are considered first line treatments for pediatric obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Recent literature has emphasized the importance of investigating effectiveness and treatment outcomes for difficult-to-treat cases of pediatric OCD who do not respond to outpatient treatment. Effectiveness studies have found that adolescent patients treated in residential settings have demonstrated gains comparable to those patients included in published outpatient outcomes studies (Bjorgvinsson et al., 2008; Leonard et al., 2014). Current research efforts are needed to 1) better predict gains in real-world clinical settings and 2) identify risk factors for difficult-to-treat patients who …

The Role Of Brain-Synthesized E2 In Hippocampal Learning And Memory Consolidation In Female Mice, Jennifer Tuscher

Theses and Dissertations

The potent estrogen 17beta-Estradiol (E2) plays a critical role in neuroprotection, serving as an important trophic factor for neurons in the hippocampus, basal forebrain, and prefrontal cortex (Brinton, 2001). In the hippocampus, E2 promotes neurogenesis (Tanapat et al., 1999, Prange-Kiel et al., 2006), protects against cell death after ischemic injury (Garcia-Segura et al., 2001, Zhao and Brinton, 2007), and helps maintain spine morphology crucial for synaptic connectivity and memory (Woolley et al., 1990; Gould et al., 1990, Woolley and McEwen, 1992, Li et al., 2004). However, the mechanisms through which E2 promotes synaptic plasticity and enhances memory function are largely …

Reward Distracters And Working Memory Performance, Tara Ann Miskovich

Theses and Dissertations

Past literature has demonstrated that reward stimuli capture attention involuntarily, much like salient stimuli or other emotional stimuli (e.g., threat). In addition, even previously rewarded stimuli capture attention when they are not task-relevant. Recent evidence has demonstrated that affective stimuli have preferential access to working memory stores, even when they are task-irrelevant distracters. The current study aimed to assess the potential impact of attentional capture of task-irrelevant reward stimuli on filtering efficiency into working memory. It was predicted that this attentional capture of stimuli representing reward may impact ongoing goal-directed behavior by impairing the encoding of task-relevant information into working …

Effects Of Dietary Preference On The Experience Of Anxiety, Depression And Acute Stress Response, Shaun Stearns

Theses and Dissertations

Research has demonstrated that high saturated fat and low carbohydrate consumption may provide physiological benefit in the treatment of major neurological disorders, though not much research has explored if these benefits extend to the experience of anxiety, depression, stress and physical symptoms. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between fat consumption and negative emotional/physiological states (anxiety, depression, stress and physical symptoms). This study also explored how fat consumption can alter one's response to an acute stress. Participants completed an online survey indicating their food preferences and their responses to a number of self-report scales such as …

Inferential Procedures For Dominance Analysis Measures In Multiple Regression, Shuwen Tang

Theses and Dissertations

In order to better interpret a selected multiple regression model, researchers are often interested in whether a predictor is significantly more important than another or not. This study investigates the performance of the Normal-Theory based (asymptotic) confidence interval and bootstrap confidence intervals for predictors' dominance relationships using both normal and non-normal data. The results show that asymptotic confidence interval method is adequate to make inferences for comparing two general dominance measures when the distribution is multivariate normal or slightly non-normal and when the effect size is no less than 0.15 and the sample size is at least 100. However, the …

Providing Alternative Reinforcers To Facilitate Tolerance To Delayed Reinforcement Following Functional Communication Training, Jillian Emily Austin

Theses and Dissertations

Functional communication training (FCT) is one of the most thoroughly researched treatments for severe problem behavior exhibited by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The earliest stages of FCT involve providing immediate and continuous reinforcement for a communicative response (FCR) that is functionally equivalent to the targeted problem behavior. However, maintaining immediate reinforcement is not practical, and the introduction of delays is associated with increased problem behavior. The present study evaluated the effects of providing alternative reinforcers during delays to reinforcement. Results indicated problem behavior was less likely when alternative reinforcers were available during delays.

The Role Of G-Protein Coupled Estrogen Receptor (Gper/Gpr30) In Hippocampal Memory And Cell Signaling In Female Mice, Jae Kyoon Kim

Theses and Dissertations

The loss of estrogens at menopause significantly increases a woman's risk of memory loss and Alzheimer's disease because estrogens are essential trophic factors for the hippocampus. However, current hormone replacement therapies are not recommended to reduce age-related memory decline because of their adverse side effects. To develop better hormone replacement therapies, it is essential to understand the mechanisms through which estrogens regulate memory. Our laboratory has demonstrated that the ability of 17β-estradiol (E2) to enhance hippocampal memory depends on the rapid activation of extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK), which occurs through activation of ERα and ERβ. The G-protein coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) …

Eye-Movement-Based Detection Of Relational Memory Despite Attempts To Simulate Memory Impairment, Elaine Mahoney

Theses and Dissertations

Malingering presents a large problem for society in terms of the allocation of resources to those who are truly in need. Memory deficits are commonly malingered after head injury. There has been great effort to develop measures that can reliably identify people who are feigning this type of impairment. In the field of memory, a robust line of research has shown that eye-movement measures are sensitive to relational memory and characteristics of these eye-movement effects have led researchers to suggest that they might represent an obligatory response to the retrieval of a relational memory. The current study investigates the possible …

Text Mining Of Patient Demographics And Diagnoses From Psychiatric Assessments, Eric James Klosterman

Theses and Dissertations

Automatic extraction of patient demographics and psychiatric diagnoses from clinical notes allows for the collection of patient data on a large scale. This data could be used for a variety of research purposes including outcomes studies or developing clinical trials. However, current research has not yet discussed the automatic extraction of demographics and psychiatric diagnoses in detail. The aim of this study is to apply text mining to extract patient demographics - age, gender, marital status, education level, and admission diagnoses from the psychiatric assessments at a mental health hospital and also assign codes to each category. Gender is coded …

Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptomatology In Verbal Children With Williams Syndrome, Faye Van Der Fluit

Theses and Dissertations

Many genetic disorders of known etiology share behavioral characteristic with the autism spectrum disorders (ASD), including language delays, social difficulties, and unusual patterns of behavior. There exist tendencies to either over- or under-pathologize these similarities, resulting in both false diagnoses and diagnostic overshadowing. Recent findings in Williams syndrome (WS), a genetic disorder often contrasted with ASDs, have demonstrated a significant overlap between these two phenotypes in young children with limited language. Using a gold-standard autism diagnostic tool, the ADOS, the present study aimed to further characterize the nature of socio-communicative behaviors in verbal children with WS, both within WS and …

Equity Of Social Support And Its Relationship With Depression, Anxiety, And Antiretroviral Medication Adherence Among Seroconcordant Dyads Of Hiv-Positive African Americans And Their Informal Supporters, Angela Roethel Wendorf

Theses and Dissertations

Social support may be an important resource for those coping with stigmatized chronic illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS, as social support may buffer the deleterious impact of HIV-related distress (Derlega, Winstread, Oldfield, & Barbee, 2003; Stutterheim, Bos, Pryor, Brands, Liebregts, & Schaalma, 2011; Ueno & Adams, 2001). Yet little is known about characteristics of social support among HIV-positive patients in relationships with other HIV-positive individuals and whether there is an equivalent perception and provision of support between each patient in the relationship. To examine how equity of support within the dyad may contribute to nuances in social support, mental health outcomes, …

Not Getting Out While There Is Still Time? Behavioral Response To Threat As A Possible Mechanism Of Sexual Revictimization, Raeann Elizabeth Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

Sexual violence affects approximately one in four college women. Feminist sexual assault risk reduction programs attempt to empower women to cope with threats of sexual assault, yet there is no standardized way to assess behavioral responses to threat, the key behavior targeted in these interventions. In this study, we sought to compare the behavioral responses of two groups of college women, those without a history of any sexual victimization, n = 12 and those with a history of repeated sexual victimization, n = 45 in a standardized analog task in order to investigate possible group differences which may lead to …

Parent Training To Implement Three-Step Prompting: A Component Analysis And Generalization Assessment, Melissa Ann Krabbe

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

PARENT TRAINING TO IMPLEMENT THREE-STEP PROMPTING: A COMPONENT ANALYSIS AND GENERALIZATION ASSESSMENT

by

Melissa A. Krabbe

The University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, 2014

Under the Supervision of Professor Jeffrey H. Tiger

Parent training is a necessary component of providing treatment to a child to ensure parents are able to implement procedures in daily life. The current study assessed the components of training (including written instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and performance feedback) needed to achieve integral implementation of three-step prompting and differential reinforcement of compliance with children referred for noncompliance. In addition to the targeted task, we assessed generalization of parent behaviors …

Using Fluency Training To Enhance The Conjugation Of Spanish Verbs, Emily Ann Smedlund

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored whether a treatment package that included fluency training, Precision Teaching, multiple discrimination, matching to sample, and cumulative practice procedures could teach students to correctly translate noun clauses such as "April cried" from English to Spanish and correctly conjugate the Spanish verb in the clauses even though the conjugation had not been directly trained. The verbs were in the past tense (preterit) and drawn from three classes such that verb inflection in Spanish was identical for verbs within a class and with only a few exceptions different for verbs from different classes. Three students who could not correctly …

A Randomized Waitlist-Controlled Trial Of Voice Over Internet Protocol-Delivered Behavior Therapy For Chronic Tic Disorders, Emily Julia Ricketts

Theses and Dissertations

Videoconferencing is efficacious, acceptable and equivalent to face to face for a range of psychotherapies, including a Comprehensive Behavioral Interventions for Tics (CBIT), but limited due to lack of portability, and restricted accessibility. An alternative is Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) transmission, allowing home delivery of treatment. The present study examined the preliminary efficacy, feasibility, and acceptability of CBIT-VoIP. Twenty youth (8-17) with CTDs participated in a randomized, waitlist-controlled trial of CBIT. Assessments were conducted via VoIP and internet surveys. Significantly greater reductions in total clinician-rated and parent-reported tic severity were found in the CBIT relative to the waitlist-control group, …

Fluency Training The Correct Use Of "To Lie" And "To Lay", Jessica Willadsen

Theses and Dissertations

Proper English is an important skill, but using "to lie" and "to lay" correctly appears challenging, as even college students misuse these verbs. The current project assessed a treatment package that included fluency-based software to train three participants to correctly use "to lie" and "to lay." For each verb several meanings were identified. Model sentences were constructed from the definitions to form basic units. Each basic unit included examples (correct sentences) and non-examples (incorrect sentences) for one of the meanings of each verb. Participants practiced with each basic unit until fluent and then completed a cumulative unit based on all …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Levels Of Food Security And Depression, Erica K. Svojse

Theses and Dissertations

Prior research has identified a variety of common correlates between food security and depression but oftentimes the data used in these analyses are not representative of the US or do not consider multiple categorical levels of the focal variables. Using data from the 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination (NHANES), this study sought to examine the relationship between four levels of food security - full, marginal, low and very low - and depression. The findings indicate low and very low food security are significantly related to an increased risk of depression, while marginal food security is not significantly different from …

Division I Collegiate Women Athletic Directors' Perceptions Of Sexism And Career Experiences, Ashley L. Kies

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated eight Division I (DI) collegiate women athletic directors' (ADs) career experiences and perceptions of sexism within their careers and athletics as a whole. Over the last century, women's sports have made great strides toward equality in athletics. Specifically, the last four decades have yielded notable progress including the amendment of Title IX in 1972, which allowed women and men equal access to federal funding for sports, as well as the creation of women's professional sports leagues, increased numbers of girls and women participating in athletics, increased numbers of women's collegiate teams, and increased rates of women employed …

Dif Analyses In Multilevel Data: Identification And Effects On Ability Estimates, Yao Wen

Theses and Dissertations

Fairness is an important issue in educational testing in that different groups of examinees should have equal probabilities of answering an item correctly, provided they have the same capabilities. Therefore, differential item functioning (DIF) analyses were developed due to the possibility of bias in cognitive or achievement tests. Data are multilevel structured in educational testing as students are nested within teachers who are nested within schools, and which may further be nested within districts. Although DIF analyses have been discussed for decades, they are rarely investigated in multilevel data. In this study, DIF analyses in multilevel data were investigated via …

Neurophysiological And Morphological Plasticity In Rat Hippocampus And Medial Prefrontal Cortex Following Trace Fear Conditioning, Chenghui Song

Theses and Dissertations

Pavlovian fear conditioning provides a useful model system for investigating the mechanisms underlying associative learning. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in "trace" fear conditioning, which requires conscious awareness of the contingency of CS and US therefore considered as a rodent model of explicit fear. Acquisition of trace fear conditioning requires an intact hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), but the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. The current set of studies investigated how trace fear conditioning affects neuronal plasticity in both hippocampus and mPFC in adult rats. Trace fear conditioning significantly enhanced both intrinsic excitability and synaptic …

Memory Retrieval Is Maintained By Intrinsic And Synaptic Plasticity In Prelimbic Cortex, James Otis

Theses and Dissertations

Abnormally strong memories underlie common disorders including addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Memory disruption would therefore be beneficial for treatment of these disorders. Evidence reveals that cocaine conditioned place preference (CPP) memories are susceptible to long-lasting disruption during memory retrieval. For example, inhibition of β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) activity within the prelimbic medial prefrontal cortex (PL-mPFC) prevents cocaine CPP memory retrieval, and this retrieval impairment is both long-lasting and prevents subsequent reinstatement of the CPP. Despite this, whether PL-mPFC β-AR activity is a fundamental mechanism required to maintain retrieval of other memories is unclear. Furthermore, how PL-mPFC β-AR activity maintains …

An Analogue Study Of The Mechanism Of Change In Functional Analytic Psychotherapy, Cristal Elizabeth Weeks

Theses and Dissertations

The study attempted to isolate the mechanism of change of Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) using non-clinical participants engaged in stable, cohabitating romantic relationships. Employing an analogue, concurrent, multiple-baseline A/A+B design, the A phase controlled for attendance, self-monitoring, instructions for increased engagement in interpersonal behaviors, and ongoing review of interpersonal behaviors. The A+B phase added a manualized FAP interaction emphasizing therapist contingent responding to in-vivo target behaviors. In addition, daily couple interactions were tracked using the Weeks Interpersonal Interaction Inventory (WIII). Targeted behaviors appeared to increase after introducing the manualized FAP interaction. Limitations and future considerations were also discussed.

Development Of An Online Training Module For The Shifting Cultural Lenses Model, Gabriela A. Nagy

Theses and Dissertations

There is a growing need for mental health professionals to provide evidence-based practices in a culturally competent manner, in part, due to the current and projected increases in racial and ethnic minority and immigrant populations in the United States and barriers to mental health services for those populations. In light of many barriers to access to mental health services for underserved populations, one crucial factor is cultural incompetence of providers. This study sought to address the mental health imperative to improve the culture competence of clinicians by creating a cultural competence training for health professionals using a behavioral model and …

The Subjective Well-Being Of Youth Heads Of Households In Rural Southern Malawi, Pamela Fruechting

Theses and Dissertations

Youth-headed households in HIV-endemic sub-Saharan Africa face harsh realities of poverty and loss of parental care. Scientific knowledge of these youth is generally limited to socio-economic and psychological indicators of vulnerability while much less is known about youth-centric meanings of well-being. This is the first known study on the subjective well-being of youth heads of households.

The purpose of this exploratory, youth-centric, qualitative study was to identify experiences of subjective well-being, factors for regulating well-being, and meanings of well-being among youth heads of household in the Thyolo and Chiradzulu districts of rural southern Malawi. The theoretical foundation for this study …

Ethnic Socialization And Ethnic Identity: Examining Intergenerational Conflict As A Moderator Among Hmong American Adolescents, Mylou Moua

Theses and Dissertations

Working from a cultural-ecological perspective, this study focused on ethnic socialization, the socialization messages that parents convey to teach children about their ethnic background in relation to ethnic identity. In this study, ethnic socialization is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct that is separate from racial socialization. Six ethnic socialization subscales (e.g., Cultural Values, Ethnic Pride, Cultural Heritage, Cultural Embeddedness, Cultural History, and Preparation for Marriage) from parents' and adolescents' perspectives were examined in association with ethnic identity for 116 Hmong American parents and their adolescents. In addition, intergenerational conflict, one aspect of the nature of the parent-child relationship, was examined …

Short-Term Changes In Responses To Stress In Runners, Molly Ann O'Connor

Theses and Dissertations

The use of physical activity to cope with stress is becoming increasingly popular. Research indicates that individuals who routinely engage in cardiovascular exercise report better overall physical and psychological health and reduced reactions to stress than those who do not. In addition, there may be short-term improvements for these individuals on days when they exercise. The current study was designed to examine short- and long-term differences between runners and non-runners. Cardiovascular, affective, and behavioral data were collected from runners over a two-day period that included a running day and a rest day, and over a similar period in a non-running …

Changes In Resting-State Functional Connectivity Following Delay And Trace Fear Conditioning Acquisition And Extinction, Douglas Hank Schultz

Theses and Dissertations

Consolidation is the process of stabilizing a recently acquired memory into a more permanent or durable form. Several studies with laboratory animals have uncovered valuable information about the process of consolidation, but less is known about the process of consolidation in healthy humans. The current study examined the consolidation of emotional memories in different brain circuits in healthy humans using resting-state fMRI. We used the acquisition and extinction of two variations of Pavlovian fear conditioning, delay and trace, which rely on slightly different circuits to examine changes in functional connectivity related to a general fear learning process and also to …